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Greek banks at their worst since the start of the crisis

06 June 2015 / 17:06:26  GRReporter
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Banks in Greece are at their worst since the crisis started. According to bank sources, deposits have dipped under €130 billion, the lowest level for the last 11 years. Non-performing loans are up at €80 billion, which is a historic high. Both repayments on existing loans and applications for new ones have seen dramatic lows.

Back in June 2012, when the country was again in dire straits and Grexit was looming on the horizon, deposits had shrunk to €150 billion, i.e. 22 billion on top of today's.

In late October, households and corporate deposits amounted to €164.5 billion. However, the country’s uncertain state after the presidential election and the early parliamentary elections, as well as the on-going uninspiring negotiations with the partners, has triggered a brisk outflow of deposits. According to bank sources, today’s deposits of private individuals amount to €128 billion, i.e. Over 36 billion were lost in just 7 months.

Bank equity has also struck historic lows. It is being traded at levels way below those seen just before the 2012 recapitalization when banks had negative equity. Significantly, bank shares fell more than 10% yesterday echoing the government's decision to bundle its payments to the IMF.

Meanwhile, the sharp deterioration of the economy makes an increasing number of households and businesses unable to pay their outstanding debt to banks. The uncertainty in the first quarter has fanned the number of non-performing loans, after a year’s decrease. Bankers have estimated that nonperforming loans surpassed 35% of total loans, which amounts to €80 billion. They warn that unless the economy bounces back and bad loans are effectively addressed, banks will need additional capital.

The number of new borrowers has also plummeted. Uncertainty and angst seem to have scared the market stiff. As a result, repayments on fresh loans have withered in May, and potential borrowers have obviously been swayed to wait for more auspicious times.

Tags: banks non-performing loans leakage of deposits
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